The London Underground Diagram: Between Palimpsest and Canon. (November 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Merrill, Samuel
• Is Part Of: London journal. Volume 38:Number 3(2013:Nov.)
• Page Start: 245
• Page End: 264
• Publication Date: 2013-11
• Subjects: Canonization -- Copyright -- Henry C. Beck -- London Underground Diagram -- Mash-up; London (England) -- History -- Periodicals; London (England) -- Civilization -- Periodicals; 942.1005
• DOI: 10.1179/0305803413Z.00000000033
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0305-8034

Abstract

Abstract : This paper demonstrates how the London Underground Diagram can be characterized as both palimpsest and canon, contributing to the collective memory and identity of London as a representational component of the cultural landscape of the London Underground. It explicitly considers the processes that have determined the increasing canonization of the diagram and the normative past that it embodies since its inception in 1931 by: investigating its design history and context of success; reviewing its popular iconization and the official acknowledgement of its origins; highlighting the history of its copyright and commercialization; charting the creative phenomenon of map-mashing and its copyright consequences; and questioning the diagram's status in a continuing digital world.